{"product_id":"forty-million-dollar-slaves-the-rise-fall-and-redemption-of-the-black-athlete","title":"Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES \u003c\/i\u003eBESTSELLER - \"An explosive and absorbing discussion of race, politics, and the history of American sports.\"--\u003ci\u003eEbony\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali and Arthur Ashe, African American athletes have been at the center of modern culture, their on-the-field heroics admired and stratospheric earnings envied. But for all their money, fame, and achievement, says \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e columnist William C. Rhoden, black athletes still find themselves on the periphery of true power in the multibillion-dollar industry their talent built. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eProvocative and controversial, Rhoden's \u003ci\u003e$40 Million Slaves\u003c\/i\u003e weaves a compelling narrative of black athletes in the United States, from the plantation to their beginnings in nineteenth-century boxing rings to the history-making accomplishments of notable figures such as Jesse Owens, Althea Gibson, and Willie Mays. Rhoden reveals that black athletes' \"evolution\" has merely been a journey from literal plantations\u003cb\u003e--\u003c\/b\u003ewhere sports were introduced as diversions to quell revolutionary stirrings\u003cb\u003e--\u003c\/b\u003eto today's figurative ones, in the form of collegiate and professional sports programs. He details the \"conveyor belt\" that brings kids from inner cities and small towns to big-time programs, where they're cut off from their roots and exploited by team owners, sports agents, and the media. He also sets his sights on athletes like Michael Jordan, who he says have abdicated their responsibility to the community with an apathy that borders on treason. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe power black athletes have today is as limited as when masters forced their slaves to race and fight. The primary difference is, today's shackles are invisible. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eForty Million Dollar Slaves\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A provocative, passionate, important, and disturbing book.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Brilliant . . . a beautifully written, complex, and rich narrative.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eWashington Post Book World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A powerful call for more black athletes to give back to their communities.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"William C Rhoden","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47274387570924,"sku":"9780307353146","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/1791\/3068\/files\/9780307353146.jpg?v=1770156333","url":"https:\/\/allstora.com\/products\/forty-million-dollar-slaves-the-rise-fall-and-redemption-of-the-black-athlete","provider":"Allstora","version":"1.0","type":"link"}